by successfulbob | black & white, people photography, photography - art quote, photography education
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – Helmut Newton
What is your job as a photographer?
If portraiture is your genre then showing people at their best is your work. That means you need to be very good at lighting the form to flatter, right? It means being great at photoshop and retouching is an important part of your work, correct? Having the right equipment and knowing the proper settings, that must be most important, right?
While all of the things listed above have merit and are part of the equation. I think if you have Mr. Newton’s quote in mind as the main part of the job then you are probably doing pretty well.
“My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain.” – Helmut Newton
I’ve found in the past that if I don’t connect with my subject the final portrait is usually less than stellar. It was when I found this quote from Helmut that I found the words for what my true job is as a portrait photographer. Sometimes just having the words makes all the difference in a career.
I find that it can be interesting to find out about the lives of those photographers that have come before and inspire. Helmut led a VERY interesting life. Born in Berlin, and forced out of Germany to Australia, then spending time in Paris, London, Monte Carlo, and in the United States iPasadenana, California.
© On Gallery Helmut Newton
Check out some imagery* from Newton. He made some very powerful portraits. While don’t suggest that your images move in the sexually charged direction that much of Newton’s work entailed, you can learn a lot for his lighting patterns and the connection he made with his subjects, You know that people are comfortable in front of his lens.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
* Caution: If you are offended by the human form, AKA nudity, you won’t want to follow this link.
by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, people photography, photography, photography education, success education, tuesday painterly photo art
Tuesday Photo Art
Gregory Daniel FDPE, FSA, M.Photog. CR., CPP, F-ASP
The Tuesday Photo Art blog post is featuring photographers who are taking photography to a new level using Photoshop and Painter techniques to offer more upscale products to their clientele and differentiate themselves in the now very competitive photography market. Most featured artists have shared their techniques in creating the art. Here Greg is sharing information a bit more on the business side which is something we artist types can let slide to the detriment of our wallets.
With that introduction, I’m turning today’s post over to Greg.
Stay True To Yourself
Today more than any other time in our industry being unique is critically important to the success of our businesses and personal sanity. Tons of noise in the marketplace is what I hear and experience every day. Everywhere you turn there are ads from all walks of life competing for our attention. Many appear to be attempts at desperation with price reductions and specials as a means to stand out from the crowd. Producing products, services, branding and experiences like everyone else lands you in the wading pool of commodity. So this begs the question on how to rise above the noise and be noticed.
I will attempt to share some concepts and principles that have shaped my path for the past 36 years in business.
Greg is adding the finishing touch, the signature, to his art portrait.
Stay True To Yourself
I have found this to be the foundation for our success. If you are interested in being different, looking unique and standing apart look no further than yourself. There is only one you and no one else can be you! Fortunately early on in my career, I found my uniqueness through the love of art museums. You could find me in the library poring over books about artists or in galleries during family vacations. Since the late 80’s these art galleries were and are a beacon of light for my vision to fuse my love for photography with painterly galleries. Staying true to this personal love and vision has been the incredible satisfying artistically along with setting myself apart from the commodity.
Your Audience
Certainly it goes without saying that if you want a business to be successful, you need to identify who your buyer will be. The commodity is for the world of mass marketing, which is not only expensive but also difficult. Identifying, who your specific client is, will narrow the marketing beam to a laser. In our case, the audience were families that appreciated unique handcrafted works of art. This could stand true from shaving products, dining experience, tailored clothing, interior designs and high-end vacations. Here’s the think, it is a must to know who to let know you exist!
Finished portrait, framed and installed
The Product
Now here is an area that I commonly see as an issue during my many mentor sessions with students. I truly believe starting with creating one single product that defines who you are, is paramount to clearly communicating to your audience. Developing your unique product and getting feedback from your audience is critical to business success. Clearly our audience recognizes a Gregory Daniel Mixed Media Portrait as our signature commissioned product. These are uniquely designed pieces to fit the lifestyle of their beautiful home.
Final Thoughts
I encourage each of you to dig deep inside to find the true you. There is wonderful joy in knowing the business you have created was built on the foundation of your core desire. Communicating through this beautiful art form with your personal language is a gift to yourself and your audience.
Bio
Gregory Daniel M. Photog.,Cr. CPP, F-ASP, FDPE, FSA
Greg and his wife Lesa Daniel are internationally recognized for their artistry and run Gregory Daniel Portrait Artist Though he is one of the most awarded photographers in the United States, Greg has the utmost privilege of living out his passion every day alongside Lesa in operating their portrait photography galleries in both Indialantic and Titusville Florida. He has achieved both the title of Master of Photography and The American Society of Photographers Fellowship. In addition, Greg is one of the youngest members to be inducted into the prestigious Cameracraftsmen of America in 1991, proud, founding member of the International Society of Portrait Artists (ISPA) and on the Board of Directors, Professional Photographers of America.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Thanks to Greg for sharing his knowledge here on Successful-Photographer. If you have a photographic artist you would like to see featured let me know.
by successfulbob | inspiration, people photography, photography, photography - art quote, photography creativity
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – Paul Caponigro
Funny how things work.
In looking for the Art quote for this week’s post, I came across these words.
“It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it’s another thing to create a portrait of who the are.” Paul Caponigro
But, strangely enough, this quote came from a photographer who is best known for landscape work that is imbued with mystical qualities.
Making portraits that capture personality and emotion is an art. No doubt about it. Paul’s quote got me to thinking about photographers who were able to tell deeply personal stories with their imagery in a single image. My name would not be on this list partly because I haven’t deeply worked at creating portraiture. Yes, I made photos of people for business and captured weddings and families over the years but not profound portraits. I think that’s because I don’t wish to share me with the world on too deep a level.
“What the heck are you talking about Bob??”
I believe that a great portrait is a combination of a photographer with deep empathy who is a passionate individual and not afraid to share that makes a great portrait photographer. A great portrait captures the subject but, I believe, is also a reflection of the photographer. And I just ain’t that deep. Still have some exploring to do on that front.
Anyway, I digress. Here are some of the names that came to mind. Yousef Karsch, Parker J Pfister, Tim Kelly, Richard Avedon, Mary Ellen Mark, Diane Arbus, Oscar Lazoya and Steve McCurry among many others.
© Tim Kelly – An exquisite portrait showing the love of a father & son. Emotion personified.
You may notice that all the portraitists I mentioned have varied styles. Apparently there’s more than one way to skin a cat! Maybe you can share some of your favorite portrait artists here. Be it those that are well known or unknown to the rest of the world. I’m curious to see the names on your list.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Are you creating portraits of your subjects? Or are you just taking pictures?
by successfulbob | people photography, photography, photography creativity, photography education, tuesday painterly photo art
Tuesday Photo Art – featuring Beverly Walden, M.Photog.Cr.
Tuesday on Successful-Photographer is now dedicated to the art of converting images beyond that of a photograph and moving the image in a more Painterly/Artistic direction. We’ll be taking to look at the artist/photographers who are forging their way forward in creating a new art form with photography at its base.
Today’s artist is photographer Beverly Walden. Shown here adding some finishing touches to her painting.
I have been following Walden’s Photography for many years. I’m impressed with Tim & Beverly’s attention to creating fantastic portraits, as well as a ‘portrait experience’ for their clients. Their hallmark is exquisite black and white fine art images. Beverly has expanded their product line by creating the ‘Beau Visage’ line of artwork.
Let’s take a look at some of Beverly’s work.
Before photograph. Please note that Bev is starting with a wonderfully well-lit portrait before she begins her Painter work.
Here is a close-up detail along with the finished painting
Bev’s before photograph
Painted image
Let’s hear from Beverly
I first opened Corel Painter on my computer about 15 years ago and started to dabble in it without much success, but I didn’t have the courage to open it for two years prior. My goal was to make money with it if I had to spend a lot of time both learning and painting. That is when we came up with the idea of the Beau Visage paintings, knowing it would be a separate part of Walden’s, and I would paint only for those who booked a painting, not on speculation.
I ordered a set of DVDs from a dear friend, Helen Yancy, and sat in front of my computer with her DVD playing. I watched, listened and took a lot of notes. Every so often, I would hit the space bar, stopping the DVD, to sketch out her desktop area showing the brushes and their settings and any other information I could glean from the DVD. Then I would set my desktop to match hers as I followed her instructions. At that point, it was just copying what she did without understanding the reasons for it.
I started to paint some prototypes after watching her DVDs, and we sold those for several years. About 11 years ago, Helen was doing a week long class 20 miles from us, and I jumped on that opportunity to learn with her in person. During that week, I was pleasantly surprised that I was doing most of the program correctly, but I needed to make some adjustments.
After that class, I painted for clients for several years, working on perfecting my skill set and feeling I improved with each painting. I spent a couple of days with Scott Dupras and took other short classes here and there that were close while also doing tutorials I found on the websites of those painters whose work I loved.
Original photo
Painted version
About two years ago, Heather Michelle Chinn, aka Heather the Painter, came to our studio and did a workshop here. Again, I felt I was doing most things the way they should be done, but I needed inspiration (and courage) to make my brush strokes more painterly and not so controlled-I wanted to feel more freedom with my strokes. She helped me tremendously on that and also taught how to apply paints and gels to the surface of the painting to add layers of depth and artistry not attainable through using only Corel Painter.
Today at Walden’s, the Corel Painter portion is sold as an “underpainting” only after the client has purchased the Beau Visage painting. Tim prints the underpaintings on fine art watercolor papers while the painting is printed on archival canvas and sealed with an isolation coat before any paint or gel is added.
The finished paintings now have so much more visual power with the paint and gels added PLUS they are truly “one-of-a-kind” pieces which make them more valuable. I knew the added paints and gels would make some difference, but I didn’t realize they would make such a huge difference, at least in my opinion, and they look and feel more like a free hand painting.
What I love about painting the portraits we create here in our studio is the high quality and excellence of the portrait itself that becomes the foundation of the painting. The lighting is beautiful, the contrast is just right, the pose and set are always a pleasure with which to work. Also, after I finish the underpainting, Tim takes it into Photoshop and tweaks the contrast to bring out the brush strokes and makes slight adjustments for added richness and depth before he hand prints both the underpainting and canvas for the painting here on our Epson printer.
We believe every studio should have a top of the line “product” to offer their clients and the Beau Visage Mixed Media Paintings fulfill that role for us.
Beverly’s Thoughts on Painting
Portraits of people and the challenge of catching the fleeting expressions that truly reflect their souls, that is what intrigues me and always has! From the click of the button to fulfilling my vision first with Corel Painter and then, paint and brushes, is what moves me and stirs the artist within. And always, I am in search of BEAUTY!
Entering into the photography profession under the instruction of both Robert Walden, my father-in-law and Tim, my husband, I fell in love with portraits from the very beginning. No landscapes, no flowers, no sunsets… I wanted to photograph faces, especially children! I loved capturing their innocence.
Every photographer has a vision inside of them, and I found my outlet to create what I saw with my mind’s eye when I learned how to get onto photographic paper what was in my mind.
After many years of doing portrait photography, I found Corel Painter and my path was changed from creating photographs to painting photographs, creating one-of-a-kind pieces of art.
I always paint when alone-it’s my quiet time, my thinking time, my relaxation! Some fish, some golf, but for me, painting is what I love to do.
It was and still is a perfect fit for me!
Here is a quote that Beverly loves and I’ll be adding to my collection, “The job of an Artist is to offer a sanctuary of Beauty to an ugly world.” Jeff Goins
I gotta tell ya this has turned into quite a missive on art and business. Thanks to Beverly for the in-depth thoughts and ideas on how the Waldens have used the artistic process to expand their business.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – For educational opportunities with the Waldens see this post. If you want to improve your photography business you definitely want to check it out.
by successfulbob | art books, photography, photography - art quote, photography education
Sunday Photo/Art Quote is from Peter Gowland
Peter Gowland was a glamour portrait photographer and author who left us in 2010. He was credited with creating over a thousand magazine covers ranging from Rolling Stone to Modern Photography. In addition, Peter made his own photo gear. The quote that brings him to the pages of Successful-Photographer is one that has to do with light. We often talk about ‘Painting with Light’ in photography and here are some descriptive words I feel we should think upon.
“Light is an interpretive tool in the hands of a photographer. He can make it harsh or soft, revealing or concealing, flattering or libellous. The more he knows about the versatility of light, the easier it is to cope with any picture-taking situation he encounters.”—Peter Gowland
The language of light is one That requires study. After twenty-plus years as a photographer, I’m still finding new ways to express my thoughts on lighting. As I read these words the ones that captured my attention the most were the descrptors, flattering or libellous. I’m finding that being able to think with a deeper vocabulary makes it possible, no more probable, to create lighting situations that I would like to enhance the subjects before my camera.
Maybe I’m a slow learner, but I find as I study photography, light and color more in-depth there is so much more to learn. It is why photography has held my interest and attention over all this time. I believe that I will never totally master photography. The day that I feel I know it all it will be time for the next adventure.
How about you?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
